Be Your Best Self

Today “self-care” – an umbrella term – is not just immensely popular. Self-care is not just critical to your mental health but also to your emotional well-being. It facilitates optimal health and builds resilience and focus. Through self-care, you remain motivated, feel reinvigorated, and evolve into the best “YOU”.

Those who actively practice self-care from a physical, emotional and mental perspective gradually progress from darkness towards self-enlightenment. They are better placed to pursue goals and appreciate the positive aspects of life.

But for this to happen, it is important that you do not view self-care only as a remedy to ward off sickness; you must treat it as a constantly evolving tool that strengthens BODY, MIND AND SOUL. ­

Mind and Soul

The path to optimal functioning, meaning being your best self, is not as easy as it seems. In fact, it takes plenty of perseverance and hard work. Most importantly, it requires you to set effective goals and pursue them. Goals enable you to realize that you are not “immobile” and are in fact constantly and steadily moving towards a better life – one which is enriched with health, growth and happiness.

Pursuing goals for non-concordant reasons based on internal compulsions or environmental pressures often lead to an underlying feeling of failure. This in turn has a negative impact on your sense of self. That is why people with high self-concordant goals are often identified as being in harmony with their basic needs, identity, personality and talents.

Extrinsic goals, like wealth, power, status and image can provide instant gratification and happiness for a short while. However, in the long run, they have been found as being unsustainable and less rewarding. In sharp contrast, Intrinsic goals, like self-acceptance, integration into a community, health, personal growth, feeling connected and intimacy, are focused on outcomes which are inherently valued and enhance well-being.

THREE STAGES to intrinsic goal setting are:

  • AUTONOMY, or the perception that you have options and therefore can determine what to do next;
  • COMPETENCE, or the belief in your own abilities and skills, and the need to evolve continually by acquiring knowledge and new skills;
  • RELATEDNESS, or connecting with others, and enjoying a sense of belonging along with high levels of motivation; 

Every time you consider goal setting, think of these THREE STAGES, and transform your goals from extrinsic to intrinsic.

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